OSCE/ODIHR trains judiciary handling war crimes cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina on trial skills
SARAJEVO, 20 May 2011– A two-day training seminar on advocacy-related trial skills for judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers handling war crimes cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended in Jahorina today.
The training was part of the War Crimes Justice Project (WCJP) led by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and funded by the European Union.
“I believe the course helped further develop the trial skills in advocacy of justice actors handling war crimes cases,” said Christopher Engels, WCJP Regional Coordinator.
He added that based on a needs assessment conducted earlier, the training seminar focused specifically on the handling of objections, dealing with experts who testify at trial, as well as on examination techniques.
The training course was organised in co-operation with the Centre for Judicial and Prosecutorial Training of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Centre for Judicial and Prosecutorial Training of the Republika Srpska, and the Criminal Defence Section of the Justice Ministry of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The session was led by Philip Weiner, Judge of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paul Rogers, Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and Defence Counsel Vasvija Vidović from the Association of Defence Counsel practicing before the ICTY.
The course, as well as an earlier training seminar in March, are part of a pioneering initiative under which judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers working on war crimes cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina participate jointly in advocacy training.
Judges from the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, cantonal courts and district courts from throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina took part in the training. Prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as those from the cantonal and district prosecutors’ office also attended. The defence lawyers participating in the training are war crimes lawyers representing clients before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, cantonal courts and district courts.
The War Crimes Justice Project is a 4-million euro regional project funded by the European Union and carried out by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODHIR) in partnership with the ICTY, the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute and OSCE field operations.
This project is funded by the European Union.
For more information please call Ms. Sanela Tunović, War Crimes Justice Project Outreach Officer at +387 61 539 535 or email at wcjp@odihr.pl.